LOW-VOLTAGE, HIGH-RESOLUTION SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY - A NEW CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUE FOR POLYMER MORPHOLOGY

Low-voltage, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (LVHRSEM) is a promising new technique for polymer morphological characterization, and provides complementary data to transmission electron microscopy, X-ray scattering and the scanning probe microscopies. Practically, lateral resolution on the order of 50 Angstrom at 1.0 keV accelerating voltage can be obtained in polymer samples. The utility of LVHRSEM is demonstrated for diverse polymer systems, both amorphous and crystalline, with structurally interesting features on a 50-1000 Angstrom length scale. The advantages and disadvantages of LVHRSEM as a polymer characterization technique are investigated, as well as the effects of beam-sample interactions, radiation damage and contamination specific to polymers examined at low voltage.